Wednesday, May 25, 2011

World Thyroid Day

Today, May 25th 2011, we recognize the 4th Annual World Thyroid Day. Established in 2008, World Thyroid Day highlights five major goals to:

Increase awareness of thyroid health,

Promote understanding of advances made in treating thyroid diseases,

Emphasize the prevalence of thyroid diseases,

Focus on the urgent need for education and prevention programs, and

Expand awareness of new treatment modalities.

In humans, dogs and cats, the thyroid, a large endocrine gland located in the neck, produces hormones that influence virtually every cell, tissue and organ in the body. The thyroid gland regulates the body's metabolism — the rate at which the body produces energy from nutrients and oxygen — and affects critical body functions, such as energy level and heart rate.

Diseases of the thyroid gland include hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, and thyroid cancer. These disorders are very common and affect tens of millions of people worldwide. As we all know from reading this blog, the same thyroid diseases are also common in dogs and cats.

2 comments:

I have a cat recently of two weeks ago that got constipation. They did tests to find out that my male cat, 10+ years of age is hyperthyroid with 1/3 kidney function. I started Methimazole 5mg, half in morning and then the other half in the evening. My issue is his eating has changed dramatically. I tried renal food and his liking has changed. Now I have tried 6 different commercial foods that are low in phosphorus. My husband is thinking the medication may be too high for the beginning in that we are lucky the cat is eating a 1/4 to a 1/2 can per day. I don't want to stop the medication but if a cat is not eating enough for kidney health, what is your recommendation for starting out in mg. I know both issues can be complicated but I know once the kidneys do not function there is no way to fix them.

Without seeing your cat or having the complete record, I can't tell you what dosage is needed. However, if you cat is not eating well, you need to speak to your vet about what to do. If the T4 is normal or low, we can certainly try to cut the methimazole dose in half and see if that is enough.

This blog is written for owners of pets with endocrine disorders, as well as for veterinarians and veterinary staff.
For more in-depth discussions of the science behind endocrinology, please read my blog written for veterinarians: Insights into Veterinary Endocrinology.

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About Dr. Mark E. Peterson

about the animal endocrine clinic

The only Animal Clinic in the world devoted exclusively to diagnosis and treatment of dogs and cats with endocrine (hormonal) problems.

The Animal Endocrine Clinic is comprised of 3 subdivisions:1) an outpatient endocrinology clinic for dogs and cats with diabetes, thyroid, parathyroid, or adrenal diseases;2) Hypurrcat, a radioiodine treatment center for cats with hyperthyroidism; and3) Nuclear Imaging for Animals, in which radioisotopes are used for thyroid, liver, kidney or bone imaging (scanning).